From Alpha to Omega: The Beginning to The End
by VirusX
Summary: The tragic tale of Saitoh Hajime's son, Shin, described by him as first-person, who is part of a gang, The Deathcallers, that now live off the government's price. Kenji is included as well ) Please R&R!
1. Alpha

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. As you may already know, this is a _fan_fiction. Do we have an understanding?

_Please_ read and review it, I am going to work really hard. Feel free to make corrections and wrong story twists, but please, no flaming. And also, this story is described in first-person, and Kenshin is _not_ the main character.

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** : : **: : **: : **: : **: : **: : **: : **: : **Alpha : : **: : **: : **: : **: : **: : **: : **: :

…As the sword pierced through me, my eyes bulged open. All the emotion from my mind washed away like sand... I didn't want to defy the only true friend I ever had, yet he was the one that, today, compelled the blood to drip from my body. I slowly descended to the ground, collapsing, my eyes still widely exposed. Everything looked so blurry…

Perhaps, if I hadn't adopted the path of swordsmanship, my life wouldn't have been so dark. But I couldn't live in the past anymore, I couldn't change my life anymore back to the way it used to be, long, long ago. I had gone too far into the depths of blood. And today, those same depths and torments led me this far.

But did I do the right thing? Now… I will rewind my presence back to the past, to see what I went through, all the way from Alpha, to Omega, from beginning, to the end.

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My name is Saitoh Shin. I was born in Tokyo, to my father, Saitoh Hajime, and mother, Saitoh Tokio. My father used to be a highly respected officer, with the fact that he was an experienced swordsman, and also participated in Shinsen Gumi during the Meiji Revolution. But later, we grew to be a very poor family, with hardly of anything. My father kept patrolling the streets of Tokyo, looking for a well-suited job. The society found him to be an unreliable man, for the reason that he was a once very vicious swordsman. Some even suspected the fact that he still used swordsmanship, although swords were banned in the Meiji era.

At the time when I turned ten years old, I began to face the facts. We were one of the most despised and ignored families in Tokyo. In school, I had trouble with the students, and the teachers didn't accompany me much. I sometimes liked to stay awake at night as long as I could, so that I could be safely _awake_, until the next day.

My father always wanted me to practice his sword fighting style, _Gatotsu_. I hated the art of swords, and the blood of a person dripping uncontrollably from his body. I had learned much about it in school, studying about the Meiji revolution. Although my hatred for fighting was firm, my brother's wasn't.

My brother, Eiji, was adopted. My father had decided to take him in since he had no guardian left. His parents and his brother were killed by an enormous man named Senkaku. I don't know whether Eiji had gotten his revenge or not, but whenever I asked him what had happened he would go berserk and sometimes even hit me.

Eiji was about two years older than me. At the time, he was sixteen, and I was fourteen. My father seemed to admire Eiji more than me… perhaps it was because my parents were more used to me, or because Eiji had agreed to learn the Gatotsu style. I would have to agree that Eiji was an immediate success. He was a natural fighter! In school, he would defend me against many bullies most of the time. Although he couldn't expose his sword to the society, he was still good in speed and hitting. Bullies, on the other hand, just pumped up their body with meat and thought highly conceited of themselves.

One day…

I came back from school, my left hand scratched deeply. Blood was dripping from it, but I managed to band the scratch with a piece of cloth. A boy had threatened me with a knife. Although he was only trying to scare me with the knife, I had accidentally been pushed in. I managed to save myself by jumping off course, but my hand was still in the way, and the blade traveled a distance above my wrist.

By nighttime, my father had noticed the wound. He was a clever man, and I wished he wasn't. Sometimes I thought he could just read minds. When he questioned me about the scratch after unwrapping the cloth, I was left with a conflict of what to say to him.

"I……."

"Hm..?"

"I'll say, a bully got too far with him today.."

I looked back, and saw none other than Eiji. I glared at him. He was going to get me in trouble. At times like these, I wanted to kill him. I despised him at these times. But at other times, I felt Eiji had a deep feeling for me. I didn't know what to feel about him at those times.

"Hm…that _is_ far," my father said thoughtfully. "He's only in ninth grade…and look at how violent this is."

"It's not any less than sword fighting," I said angrily.

"Shin, you must learn to defend yourself!" my father said, even angrier than me. "That IS IT!!!"

His voice echoed through the house loudly. I remained angry. I had to be yelled at every time I got bullied around. This seemed to sometimes put an affect on my living style, and I even failed school tests on purpose. I knew that I was hurting only myself, but I thought that with a life like this, I shouldn't have to burden it with work that I won't find useful, since I most likely won't have a future anyway.

"Now, here's the deal," my father listed, "Either you learn Gatotsu appreciatively, or don't bring home any signs of being more humiliation to the family. If you choose the second choice, then the next time I will hit you so badly—"

I stood up. My mother had walked in, blinking with confusion. Eiji was gritting his teeth to see what my next action would be. I fixed my emotion to anger, and walked to the door, looking back.

"I choose choice three…leave the house and never show my face again."

As I walked out, Eiji tried to stop me, but I could tell my father gave him a sign to not hold me back.

"But father…!"

Eiji lowered his head and walked back slowly, giving me a last pleading look, as I strode out of the house, being welcomed to the rainy, cold night. I knew that I hadn't made this decision very thoughtfully, but my anger could go over anything. I didn't want to be threatened by my father anymore.

Being only fourteen years old, I didn't know where to go next. So I just walked plain forward, still in a hurry. I was still wearing my school uniform. Thinking about school, I wondered whether I should go back. It was a tough decision. Should I never go back to school or home, and completely dump my life into hell? But then again, my life was worse enough to deserve this anyway…

But I was still hesitating to leave. In a matter of minutes, I shivered. I had nothing to keep myself warm. Leaving the house meant that I would have to bear these kind of nights as well. I didn't want to be in an orphanage either. At this sort of rate, I might be nothing but a kid who grew up on the street. This fact would have no positive sides to it… only negative. I gritted my teeth.

…Tonight was rather an unfortunate night to run away. I could tell most sewers were leaking, as I crossed through building alleys, under wet canopies that trickled water from the edges, and grabbing old papers to cover my head, to escape the rain. But it wouldn't stop, so I gave up and instantly came to being as wet as water itself. Mud—too…the horse carts that flashed by me every now and then splashed me with a puddle of filthy water.

After shuffling through the drizzling sidewalks with as much energy I had, I finally slipped inside a lonesome alley and collapsed with a splash on a pair of abandoned stairs. I didn't know if I should close my eyes or not… but being more sleepy than frightened, I slowly began to yawn… but within a minute, the fear rose.

I heard a couple of silent splashes, which were most likely footsteps. My eyes slid open, and I looked to the noise… there were four boys and one girl walking towards me. They all were wearing a quiet smirk as they approached me slowly. I sat there, apparently paralyzed, not being able to move a muscle.

"So..," one of the men, who was wearing bright blue clothes, said in a long, irritating voice. "Saitoh Shin, correct?"

I gazed at them for a slight moment, and nodded slowly. Their smirk widened as they looked down at me. One of the men drew out a wrinkled photo and looked at it, supposedly comparing the picture to me. I got the chance to look at the photo, and realized that it was a photo of a younger me!... I didn't remember having that picture taken, though, or even wearing those unfamiliar clothes that I was wearing in that photo. The man holding the photo nodded to the rest of them, and the man with the blue clothes continued.

"You may not know of yourself, Shin," he said, still in his drawling, annoying tone. "But we do."

I stared at him, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

His smirk widened to the point that I wanted to bury my fist in his face. I gritted my teeth. I knew that these men were up to no good… perhaps I _had_ done a wrong thing to run away.

"Well, it's quite a story, Shin," another man said, in a much softer tone, to my ears' relief. "You think you don't know us… yet you do."

With a clouded head, I didn't know what to respond. What were they talking about?

"Let me tell you, Shin," said the only girl in the group. "I'm Yuki Toshusai. This is—"

She pointed to the man in the red clothes.

"—Gou…and these are Iori, Itsuo, and Natsuo."

I gritted my teeth harder, looking at each person as the girl pointed at them. As I did, I noticed they were not all really that old… they looked like high school kids, except older and quite taller than me. I was about five feet seven inches, and these guys—and girl, were from five feet ten inches to six feet.

"Um…so why must I know your names?" I asked, trying to act still confused.

Their smirk widened. I was getting agitated intensely by that smirk…

"You talk to us so unwantedly, Shinny!" one of them said, who I thought was Iori, after hearing what the girl Yuki had to say. "Well, we've been searching for you for … what was it, Gou—two years? And this boy asks us why we're here."

"The boy doesn't remember us, for heaven's sake," another man said. He looked towards me, still with the smirk. "As chicky said, I'm Natsuo. We're going to have to take you with us, Shin."

I clenched my fist stiffly. These _strangers_, who claimed that I didn't _remember_ them, were asking me to come with them. Were they stupid enough to think that I'd go with that? They even gave out their names…

"You're saying it in an evil sort of way, Natsuo," the girl, Yuki, pointed out.

"Oh, but we were going to insist anyway, weren't we?" Natsuo argued. "We're not here to puzzle off the boy."

"Shut the crap, Nat," another man said. "Arrr….well, Shin. We're going to take you somewhere familiar. It's gonna be a breeze. Trust us…"

"Why should I?" I said furiously.

"Just come, Shin, soon you'll remember everything..," Yuki said.

"Yeah, listen to the lady—" the man in the red clothes, Gou, teased. Astonishingly, his smirk wiped off his face after he looked at Yuki's rather menacing glare.

Suddenly, someone grabbed me from the back and picked me up from the damp, muddy stairs I was sitting on. I could once again feel the rain thumping coldly on my body as the rather warm hand grasped me tightly. I looked back and saw Natsuo holding me. The others nodded towards him, and the man began escorting me out of the alley with the rest of the group.

"What the…LET GO!" I shrieked.

"The boy's still got his loud trap," Iori said, looking back to me with his teeth grit. "…you'd think he'd be the quiet one now that he doesn't remember anything."

It was a ghastly feeling, how I was trying to get free from the two hands gripping me by the arms and taking me wherever they wanted to take me… and yet I couldn't get loose a bit. My heart beat like a rapid machine. The raindrops that dripped from my body now transformed into sweat of fear. While they took me away, they said some odd things like… "Funny thing, you know—back then we could hardly even touch him…that speed" and "Where is the base again?" and then "Stop trying to get free, you maniac! It'll be over in a minute!"

After about a fifteen minute's walk, they finally slowed down when we approached a disordered, wrecked house that was almost the size of a shed, in the middle of what looked like a junkyard.

"Here we are," Natsuo said, finally letting me on my feet. "Was that so hard?"

"What are you going to do with me now?" I said furiously.

"Oh, we're just going to show you to Kenji again, Shin," another boy said, whose name I couldn't remember. All of a sudden these five strangers come up to me and ask me to remember their names?

Yuki went and knocked on the door of the cruddy shed. I kept my eyes open to see who would answer, not trying to blink once because of the cold air stinging my pupils.

And someone did answer. A boy who was startlingly my size, with a firm look, and odd clothes that seemed he'd been wearing for years. The boy looked around at everyone, nodding slightly, and then fixed his eyes on me.

"T-this is?"

"Why, it's Shin, Kenji!" Yuki said.

"Yup," said Gou in his drawling voice again, sitting down on a pile of wood, and lighting a cigarette.

The boy who had answered the shed, 'Kenji', seemed to have been sleeping. He rubbed his eyes and looked at me more closely, and then approached me and irritatingly analyzed me for a long time.

"He's not the same," he said finally.

"What do you mean, this is Shin!" Itsuo said, borrowing a cigarette from Gou and lighting it as well.

"He may be, but he looks much weaker…," Kenji said, observing my soft-like hands. "He's..?"

"Yes, he's lost his memory," Iori said quickly. "The..poor guy. He doesn't know shit about who he is, or what he used to be… or even what happened to him back then."

Kenji's eyes opened swiftly. He breathed in large amounts and walked around for a minute, thinking about something. I didn't know what they were talking about. Had I actually lost my memory? Did I use to know these people?

"I think we should keep him until he gets his memory back..," Yuki said.

"We keep him _even if_ he gets his memory back as well," Gou added.

"Where'd you find him?" Kenji asked, concerned.

"Quite creepy, but we found him in that same alley where we first met," Natsuo said, smirking.

"Ahh," Kenji said, "Talk about coincidence! … Well, I think we should… re-teach him…"

"The style? But no, he doesn't know anything about himself!" Yuki argued. "He needs a purpose!"

"He has one," Gou punched the wood he was sitting on with a firm fist. "To get his memory back, and tell us who the hell did this to him. If I don't get to crush that man's bones, no one will."

"Anger management, Gou," Itsuo said, and looked at Kenji. "We can't teach him anyway… we don't know. Only you and he knew the style…"

"Then I'm taking Shin," Kenji replied, "He _will_ learn the style again. I'm taking him to Kyoto."

"Ah…Kyoto…the nightmare of blood..," Natsuo said happily, taking a long smoke. His cigarette was lit out by a drop of rain water. "Argh! It's gonna flood by tomorrow!"

"So…your father will teach him the style?" Iori asked. "Why couldn't he teach us?! I wanna learn the ryuu…"

"Father's turning old, he has little time to even teach Shin now," Kenji said intelligently. "And besides, you can't have too many people learning it. The results would be devastating. First, I'll have to test Shin."

Kenji disappeared inside the wrecked shed-looking house and came back holding a sheath in his hand. He threw the sheath at me, and I catched it suddenly… I didn't know the sheath was coming…my hands just sprung up and caught it like a machine.

"Nice," Iori pointed out.

I stood there, bewildered of what to do with this sheath. My hands enclosed on the hilt, and I pulled it out expertly. It was a sword, no doubt. A long, curve-bladed katana with a magnificent blade that gleamed superbly with the drops of rain reflecting upon it.

"Recognize that sword, Shin?" Kenji shouted across at me, fighting against the loud noise of the rain and thunderclouds. "It's the same one you prized most… don't you remember, Shin? '_I used this sword to kill from alpha, and I will use it for the omega_.' Remember saying that?"

I shivered, holding the katana in my hand. I looked at the gleaming edge of it…every single chip of the blade seemed to be mentally accusing me as its sole user, a man who was created to kill.

"Prepare yourself, manslayer!"

I looked up from the sword to the spot where Kenji had been…but within a second Kenji was standing in front of him. He paused for a slight moment, his eyes shining awfully blue, and swung his sword at me vertically, in an incredible god-like speed. I closed my eyes and, automatically, my hand gripped tightly onto the katana and next thing I knew—there was a loud _clash_… I opened my eyes and realized I was completely safe. Kenji had leaped back. _I had suddenly countered the move without knowing it…_

There was a long moment's pause, in which only the sound of the intense rain could be heard. There was another loud crash of thunder. My heart was beating fast, as I observed Kenji standing there, still in his stance. I looked at my katana… it seemed magic how I had survived that attack… how did I do it, anyway?

"Kid's still got it in him," Gou said with a long drawl, still smoking, sitting on top of the pile of wood.

"What if he didn't? You could have killed him, Kenji!" Yuki said loudly.

Kenji didn't reply. He was gazing into my eyes. His eyes were still blue like the luminous moon… nearly hypnotizing.

"So, how did you manage to battle my speed, manslayer?" Kenji asked loudly across the deafening noise of the infernal rain. I was getting irritated by him calling me a 'manslayer', just like the annoying, drawling voice of Gou.

"I don't know..?" I said uncertainly. "It…It just happened!"

Kenji seemed to be thinking about something, but kept his moon-like eyes fixed upon me. Once again, Kenji grasped the hilt of his katana and perfected a stance. I still didn't know _ what_ was the point of all this. They were calling me a manslayer, thinking that I'm a good swordsman? Did I actually lose my memory? Father never mentioned such a thing to me… neither did Eiji. I thought back, and realized that indeed, I couldn't remember some things that actually happened to me. Sometimes I used to ask Eiji about it, and he said that I have a stupid brain, trying to act normal.

My thoughts vanished and I found myself once again facing Kenji. I kept my eyes on him as well, in case he would just fade next to me and kill me. And finally, just when the clouds roared loudly, I saw Kenji fade. I looked around to see him, and felt a chill up my spine. And out of the blue, I detected him standing right behind me, and swung around. Luckily, my sword had sprung up to block his slash just in time. .. And then I turned angry. He could have _killed_ me if I hadn't blocked!!! But how did I block the attack anyway? I didn't even know how I did it… it happened all by itself, like I was being controlled.

Although I couldn't do anything about the anger, my body functioned by itself once again and I found myself slashing at him a repeatedly, trying to hurt him in any way… It was unbelievable…. How fast I was slashing, ducking, leaping, and reversing motion as I attempted to kill him. And finally, after much springing around, I finally managed to mark a cut on his arm. He leaped back and sat down… And as I analyzed blood dripping off his arm and mixing in the flowing puddle of water, I finally came back to my senses. _What the hell was I trying to do? Kill him? That was insane…_

Gou and Natsuo had jumped off the pile of wood and dropped their cigarettes to grab me, in order to control me. Yuki, Itsuo, and Iori went to accompany Kenji, who was sitting there. However, Kenji recovered easily and stood up.

"Let him go."

They loosened their grip, and hesitatingly withdrew their arms. I looked at Kenji, his eyes were still illuminated blue. It reminded me of something, but I didn't know what…

"That was quite crazy," Kenji said, forming a slight smirk on his face. "I can tell… you do remember the style, you just don't know that you do, and how to use it. A little training and you'll be back to the once swordsman that could rip through the winds, and kill instantly without the opponent feeling any pain at all…You know, although _I_ am the blood of my father, you are more like him when you use the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, gritting my teeth.

"The style—Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu," Kenji repeated. "You don't know about yourself, do you? Not a single spiff of knowledge… let's come inside our base. We've had enough blood—" Kenji looked at Yuki who was tying a cloth on his wound, "For tonight."

I nodded slightly, and followed inside the house that I had been thinking was a shed. But Kenji had called it 'their _base_'…

I looked around the house. It wasn't really that bad as it looked from outside. It was pretty cozy in here, compared to the obnoxious weather outside. There was a normal kitchen, which looked like it had been used by people who definitely weren't chefs, and a small bathroom, and only two small rooms, side-to-side. There was nothing special in here… only a small television, and something that looked like a radio. There were some chairs, and a small table that was probably used for dining.

"Like the place?" Itsuo asked me as I finished looking around, smiling. "Since you've completely sold your mind, you're gonna have to start from the beginning of getting used to these kinds of non-state-of-the-art things."

I nodded, trying to smile a little, still holding the katana in my hands.

"Put that away, Shin, you look like you're going to murder us all," Yuki said. I nodded once again, and sheathed the katana cautiously, putting it aside on a highly shabby sofa. Everyone began to grab a chair and sit down beside the dining table.

"Let's go, Shin," Iori said, grabbing a chair for me and pulling it next to his. I sat down quietly, looking around at everyone.

"Well, you're probably wondering who we are still," Kenji said, smirking. "My name is Kenji Himura."

"I know," I replied. Kenji continued to smirk. Bizarrely, his eyes weren't blue anymore. I smiled in relief… they were beginning to frighten me… He continued, "You went pretty berserk back there, Shin. I realized you were mad."

"Yes… you were slashing at me without warning!" I said. "I don't even know about swords. I don't use them. My father advised me to learn his style, but I didn't."

"Saitoh Hajime…his style is the Gatotsu, isn't it?" Natsuo asked.

"Y-yes," I said, trying not to act surprised, since these people already knew about me.

"No, no..," Kenji said, "You are the successor of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu… not Gatotsu. We both trained together, by my father, Kenshin Himura."

I nodded, storing that information in my head hastily.

"But you proceeded to being an ass," Kenji continued, smirking, "you left your training and began to show the world what you were made of…after I finished my training, I, too, left my father and began walking around Tokyo to look for you. I … saw you were involved in a gang. I got mad at you, and all that usual blah blah stuff."

"Tell him the whole story," Yuki said furiously. "Listen, Shin. You had joined a gang that we are hunting down right now. At that time, when Kenji returned from Kyoto after finishing his training, he decided to fight against you and joined us. Later on, you got back to your senses and joined with us as well, to hunt down your own former gang. They're pretty mad at you too… you were a powerful weapon of theirs. It's a good thing we found you before they did."

"What?!" I erupted. "I was in a gang?"

"Yes, Shin," Kenji said. "First you were in that gang, but then you joined _this_ gang."

"You guys are gangsters too?!"

"Not exactly gangsters," Itsuo corrected. "We used to be the bad guys, but later we were hired by the government. We're just an organization with the name _Deathcallers_, so that the government can make the society fear us. We were hired by the government, the seven of us, to actually form a single 'gang' and wipe out another one. It's like only fire can beat fire, ya know."

"So..we were hired to exterminate another gang?" I confirmed.

"Correct," Kenji said. "Well anyway, what's funny is that, just like Yuki pointed out, the first gang you joined _is _the gang we're hunting down."

I gritted my teeth again. "This is confusing…I find out I'm in a gang…boy…brain killers."

"It's not that bad, Shin," Kenji informed. "Someday, you'll understand. Anyway, we were only hired by the government because they knew that we, the two of us, were the swordsmen that knew the style of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu. Although swords were banned, we were given the right to wield one."

"So, we're called the Deathcallers, right?" I asked.

"Yes, Deathcallers," Iori said, smiling. "Catchy name, huh…"

"I don't want to do this," I said. "I…don't know."

"But, you must!" Natsuo said. "You're who we've been rugging our ass on Tokyo's streets for a year!"

"The boy needs time, Nat," Yuki said, sighing. "Anyway… the gang we're hunting out is…"

"…they call themselves Anshi," Iori said. "They're a group of experienced fighters that are slowly spreading throughout Japan. There are many of them, but the Deathcallers are only created to hit the core, not all of them. So that means we focus upon only the leaders of Anshi."

"FIRST," Kenji slammed his fist on the table, "I take Shin to my father. He needs to complete his training."

"Now, Kenji, we don't have time—"

"Yes, we do. Shin needs this, you guys. He's lost his memory, and although he still somewhat knows the style, he doesn't know how to use it… he just can use the usual techniques. And plus, he abandoned his training a long time ago. He needs to return now, and finish up the vital moves of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu.. trust me, he'll be much powerful than he used to be."

Everyone nodded. They sat there for a long while, staring down at the table. After a long minute of silence, at last, Kenji stood up and let out a yawn.

"Now then, let's eat, shall we?" he said in emphasis. "Tomorrow, we'll head out to Kyoto."

"What do you mean by we? Just you and Shin, or all of us?" Gou asked.

"We by all of us," Kenji confirmed. "And also, while Shin's completing his training, the rest of us will have to work on locating and exterminating as much Anshi members there as we can."

They all nodded, and Yuki smiled with a few tears. "It's..been a while since all of us have been together, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, but now we have Shin back and we have all the determination we need," Itsuo said, smiling back.

Natsuo leaned back in his chair and yawned deeply. "Bad thing is…good ol' Meiji is supporting us halfway only.."

"What do you mean?" Iori asked, as Kenji sprinted to the kitchen and began fixing dinner.

"I had a few morons that were sent by the government to destroy me," Natsuo replied. "They're hoping to get rid of us once we get rid of Anshi as well."

"So, they're using us?" Iori asked. "…Those…"

"Perhaps they think that we're also a threat to them…you know, all of us being a gang as well and stuff," Yuki said cautiously.

"Let's worry about this later, okay?" Kenji said from the kitchen, smiling. "Let's eat."

"Bring it on!" Itsuo grinned.

"First, some fresh wine to celebrate the return of Shin!" Natsuo said with a wide smirk, drawing a large bottle of red wine. Kenji smirked as well and brought seven glasses. Noticing that everyone had grabbed a glass, I grabbed for one too, slowly. As all the glasses filled up with red wine, everyone picked their glasses up at the same time, leaving me confused. Kenji noticed and smiled.

"Since you don't remember, Shin, we're supposed to be a team," Kenji informed. "So close, we'd die for each other—do the worst of things… we're partners in crime, all seven of us."

I nodded, forming a smile. It was good to see such nice people… although I was in a gang according to them, they were showing signs of true friendship. I picked up my glass, and we all struck our glasses together in one. And then, suddenly, something hit my brain, and I began to speak.

_"Forever, friends— from alpha to omega—from beginning to the end."_

No one noticed me saying this, because they all said it at the same time. But how did I automatically say it? Did it tick a memory to my mind?

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**- I know it's a bit odd in the beginning, that everything is happening too fast, but it'll get better ^_^ Please keep reading! And review this chapter too, please!**


	2. Beta

**Espi** – Thanks for pointing that out, it's sort of tough to stick to Saitoh Shin, but I'll get used to it =)

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**_BETA_**

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I woke up the next day and looked around strenuously. All the events that happened yesterday had gone by too fast… I didn't even realize when I slept in this small room. There were Itsuo and (to my surprise) Yuki sleeping next to me, in their own blankets. I stood up wearisomely and looked inside the other room. Natsuo, Kenji, and Gou were sleeping there.

With all individual kinds of thoughts whirling around my head, I couldn't go back to sleep anymore. So, I went into the kitchen, and heard a clatter in the kitchen. I looked and saw Iori cooking breakfast already…

"Morning!" Iori said kindly.

"Hey..," Shin replied with equal kindness.

"Today's gonna be so cool, now you're back with us! And we're moving to Kyoto!" Iori said happily. "But then again, it'll be the fun for _you_ since we're gonna have to kick some Anshi butt, and you'll be training and learning all kinds of neat moves."

"I'm not sure if I'm good enough for this style…" I said uncertainly. "This…whatever you call it… Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu?"

"Ahh come on, Shin!" Iori said. "You're just nervous. But trust me, you used to be a wizard back then… I don't see how you lost your mind. No one could even touch you. You were almost like the Hitokiri Battousai legend back in the revolution…"

"Hitokiri Battousai?" I asked.

"The man that's going to re-teach you the style, Himura Kenshin," Iori explained, "he was given the name 'Hitokiri Battousai' because of his intense skill in the battles… of course, your dad was in the ShinsenGumi as third division captain, so he had a couple of battles with him… Boy, I don't understand how I know this much history. Education is the last thing I'm going to want to do."

"So, you never went to school?" I asked.

"No… all of us dropped out sooner or later. In fact, only Yuki is the one that actually stayed in school. But she got in the middle of blood anyway. That's why she's ripe nineteen… geez, I've been asking her to go out with me. Oh, and weren't you sleeping next to her?"

"Uhh, y-yeah…dunno how that happened," I said hastily. "So, anyway… when are we leaving for it?"

"Mm…up to Kenji," Iori said in a rude-like voice, "he's the _leader_… But I think it's after we all wake up and have some breakfast."

Iori grabbed for a cigarette and began smoking it. It was peculiar to see someone smoking in the morning. And then, after about a minute after the scent of the cigarette began to spread, Natsuo jumped in the kitchen, over my shoulders.

"Hey!" I said, my heart beating rapidly.

"Sorry, Shin," Natsuo said, and faced Iori, "Hand it over, you!"

Iori gave the pack to him. "I was out of money."

"Whatever. Want one, Shin?"

"No," I said quickly. "I'm only fourteen."

"Ahh, that doesn't matter, you don't have to follow the laws and that health crap.."

I walked out of the kitchen and my eyes full upon the katana I had used yesterday with Kenji. I slowly ambled towards it and grabbed It, picking it up and examining it. I slowly and carefully plucked the hilt and examined the blade. The edge wasn't shining like it was yesterday, but the blood of Kenji was still marked. Before I decided to clean it off, my eyes aimed towards something else. I sat down and looked at it.

On the blade of the sword, on the flat side, there were words written on it with something I didn't know… It said, in a bright red color, "アルファからオメガへの" , and then, right underneath it, "終わりへの始".. 

For a moment, I kept staring at those phrases, over and over again. I looked up and saw Gou standing there. He, for the first time, smiled at me with a sign of kindness. He seemed to know what I was doing.

"Is this our motto or something?" I asked him.

"You could say that…. But even if we're bad, we've got our pasts, don't we?" Gou said, and slowly gazed out the window. ".. You know, most people think that we don't have reasons. We just cause destructions for the hell of it… like we're machines designed for destruction. We're _not_ human beings… that's what they think."

I nodded at him understandingly. Personally, I had to agree with him. 

Minute by minute, a person would wake up and yawn, and stare at me for a long time—probably hardly being able to believe that tonight's events actually happened. After finally eating breakfast, Kenji declared to head to Kyoto. When I asked him how to get all the way to Kyoto, he said 'by ship'…

And by another hour, we were standing in front of a quite interesting ship. When we stepped on, I noticed there were quite a lot of people heading to Kyoto. Itsuo added, "Looks like there's going to be a lot of people watching us wiping out Anshi."

We walked around the entire ship. I observed everyone else… I had actually made friends by running away from home. But did I do the right thing in running away? I looked at them all. They were all holding some sort of weapon… although people were giving them odd stares; I knew that we were given the right to wield one, by the government. But was the government supporting us? Yesterday, Natsuo had informed that he was attacked by some officers sent by the government to exterminate him… what was the meaning of this?

I looked at them all again. There was Gou, who was still wearing red clothes, with a scythe behind him. Iori was holding a whole load of knives and daggers… there was a knife in each of his boots, hidden there, and he could flip it out of his boots and kick the enemy straight in. He also had two daggers for his hands, and a spare dagger hidden in the back.

As we all sat either on chairs, or the edges of the ship, I looked at Itsuo and Natsuo. Itsuo seemed to be holding a very long and heavy-looking sword that looked about twenty three inches long. Natsuo had two sheaths attached to each of his sides. The sheaths weren't really that long…

"Observing our weapons, are you?"

I looked away from Natsuo's sheaths and looked to Yuki. She was sitting on her chair and seemed to be observing me the whole time I was analyzing the swords.

"Yes," I answered. "I wanted to get to know all of you."

"Well," Yuki said, "You know our names, all right… Me, of course, Yuki… See this?"

Yuki revealed her hands and I observed them for the first time. I didn't notice there was a metallic glove-like object covering her hands. She did something, and the metal glove covered all of her fingers, making it look like a gauntlet for fighting. She did something once again, and a set of five claws flipped out of each of her gauntlets.

"That's gotta hurt, huh?" Yuki said, smiling at my surprised look. "Well, anyway. You and Kenji, of course, use a katana. Did you know you actually gave your katana a name?"

"I did?"

"Yeah, you called it _Nagatou_," she said. "Kenji calls his _Shinou_… I still don't see what's up with the names. Anyway, Gou uses a scythe. Iori uses those… well, Iori's a machine of countless daggers. You never know from where he'll flip out a dagger and stab you. Itsuo and Natsuo—hey, did you know that Itsuo and Natsuo are brothers?"

"No... I was wondering why their names were so alike…" I said, looking at the two. "Are they twins?"

"No," Yuki said. "Natsuo's seventeen, and Itsuo's sixteen. Gou's eighteen, I'm nineteen, and Iori's seventeen. Anyway, Itsuo, as you can notice, has that Daitou sword. That's long, all right. Natsuo uses two swords at the same time, he bought them from a rare sword maker called Shuuji. They're twin Wakizashi swords."

I nodded. It was eccentric to absorb in everything about them in one day. I looked at the sheath attached to my waist. I used to call this sword the Nagatou?

Several hours passed in the ship as we approached Kyoto. But when we reached there, I became more and more nervous. I didn't think I was ready to train… I never liked killing—that was why I denied Gatotsu from my father. But now, I took the opportunity without much hesitation.

The ship stopped. I stepped on the soil and rock of Kyoto… I should rephrase what Natsuo had said last night… _ …Kyoto…the nightmare of blood…_ I should have known that this very place would be the beginning and the end for me. And indeed, when I advanced onto the surface of Kyoto, I felt a sudden chill as a slight flurry passed by me. The sheath attached to my waist felt heavier… my hands were stiff.

We passed by old-looking, some impaired, and most rather interesting looking buildings that I hadn't seen in Tokyo. It was nice to step into an old-fashioned place for once. The kimonos that girls were wearing looked very beautiful on them. I managed to wear a smile on my face, passing by the crowd that gave us startled and even dangerous looks.

"They probably have a problem with our weapons," Itsuo informed.

We took several twists and turns, and although we had walked for a while, I was quite certain we knew where we were going… and finally we took the most bizarre turn of all—straight into a couple of ignored woods. I didn't even realize the woods were there until I saw where we were going.

And then walking through woods was another task… I didn't hear any sign of individuality until I heard a stream nearby. It was a really delicate sound. Water was the sound of justice. As we walked on, the sound increased. And finally, we reached it. 

It was a really a towering waterfall, or perhaps the only one I had ever seen. But I realized we didn't have anything to do with this waterfall. I looked to see where the rest of the gang was going, and caught them heading towards yet another shed-like house. This house, however, was slightly smaller than the previous one.

Kenji knocked on the door loudly. After about a minute, a man answered. To my astonishment, this man was even more old-fashioned than Kyoto. He had long, red hair (which somehow reminded me of blood) tied in midst, dark pink-purple shirt that had a wide, loose sleeve, and a distant, light-colored cloth that was tied around his short to cover his legs.

"Father," Kenji said in a clear voice, and nodded once.

"Deathcallers?" the man said, looking at all of us, rubbing his eyes. "Wow… long time no see."

"Ditto, sir Himura!" Yuki said, grinning.

The man's eyes fixed on me. Kenji pulled me in front and informed, "Well, here's Himura Kenshin, Shin. Father, he's lost his memory."

"What?!" Kenshin cried. "How did this happen, Shin?"

"We don't know, until he gets his memory back," Kenji declared.

"It was somewhere after the battle with that man Akira and his squad of fighters," Gou said. "But recalling that time, Shin took him on pretty easily. I don't know what happened after that, but he disappeared mysteriously. And after one and a half years of searching we find him not remembering anything at all."

Kenshin nodded, and put his hand on his chin. "Well, come on in."

I walked in after everyone else. The place didn't look so bad at all from the inside… it wasn't split into groups. There were shelves of wood on a wall, filled with pots, sheaths, and other items. There was only one chair, so we had to sit down on the floor and see Kenshin sit on his chair in front of us.

"There would have been a less risk of him losing his memory," Kenshin said furiously, "if he completed the training."

"That is what we are here for," Natsuo said, "you must teach him."

Kenshin stood up again, and began to walk around in circles, his hand still on his chin. After a minute, he spoke, "No."

"No?!" Kenji shrieked. "But… why not?!"

"If he was wise, he'd have completed his training back then," Kenshin said with a sigh. "I do not have time to guide him once more… he is unworthy of it."

"That's insane!" Iori said. "He _does_ know the style, just can't control it!"

"He can, huh?" Kenshin repeated, still walking in slow circles. "Explain."

"I tested him last night," Kenji said calmly, "he remembers the style… just doesn't know how to use it."

"Hm…"

Kenshin stopped, and lowered his hand from his chin, gazing deeply at me.

"Perhaps," he said slowly. "…maybe… I could."

There was a shout of triumph. I managed to wear a smile, and looked at Kenji. He wasn't looking at me, but the other way. His voice of triumph couldn't be heard either. After the voice deceased, everyone slowly stood up, and I did as well.

"Practice hard, Shin," Itsuo advised me. "We want you even better than we had you back then!"

I nodded nervously. Kenshin walked over to me and grasped my sword, withdrawing it from the sheath, and examined it.

"Still the sword of murder," Kenshin said, and looked at the writing that was carved onto the sword in a bright red color, "Alpha to Omega… hmm…. You're still a vicious man, Shin. However, I will pretend to be unaware of that. It is up to you to decide if you are going to use Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu for power—or for the lives of the innocent. When the sun rises into a time when I am forced to confront you, I will only do so to resume the moral of this style….."

I nodded, not knowing if I fully understood him. The others walked to the door, wearing a wide grin. "We'll be seeing you perhaps tonight, or tomorrow, Shin," Yuki added. I nodded with a smile. And then, the door closed. The room turned pitch-black until Kenshin drew the curtains and shining light gleamed in the room.

"We shall train outside, Shin," Kenshin declared, walking out the door. I walked outside, and apprehended that he was heading for the waterfall. When I saw the waterfall up-close, I realized there were rocks planted carefully in the stream. There were countless number of rocks here. Kenshin jumped on one. I jumped on another, opposite him.

"Testing," Kenshin formed a stance. I formed one similar to his. He vaulted in the air, and shot towards me. Having no other idea, I grasped the other end of my sword, holding it with both hands, and shot up. His sword slashed into mine, and we both shot away, landing on different rocks.

"Excellent," Kenshin said, "I guess they were right in saying that you do know the style… just can't control it. I will just have to re-teach you the techniques. That move you just performed, grabbing your sword from both ends as a counter for aerial attacks, is called _Ryuu Shou Sen_… Now, I will teach you _Ryuu Tsui Sen_."

**-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~**

Two or three days passed as I memorized the techniques Himura Kenshin taught me. In no time, I had gained control of my power. However, the rest of the gang didn't return until four days later. The door flung open, and in came a wounded Yuki, an Iori whose nose was bleeding badly, an Itsuo whose sword was broken, and a perfectly fine Kenji, Gou, and Natsuo.

"Phew," Iori said, "It's been longer than we expected."

"Welcome back," I said, beaming, as I polished my Nagatou.

"Thanks, Shin," Itsuo said, looking at his broken Daitou. "Tsk, Tsk… I'll need my spare one, Kenshin."

Kenshin nodded and opened a closet, shoveling through things and drawing a long sheath. He handed the sheath over to Itsuo, whom drew a long, magnificent Daitou, similar to his one before, and smirked. "Always gotta have a spare."

"Anyway," Iori said in a serious tone, "We've gotten rid of most Anshi here in Kyoto. But we've discovered information of more bases in Yokohama, Osaka, and Hiroshima."

"Yeah," Kenji said, sitting down. Concerned, he looked at me and asked, "How's that training going?"

"Oh, he's great," Kenshin broke in, "Far better than you, Kenji. I think he's good enough to get going with you all."

Kenji gritted his teeth. For some reason, I thought he looked slightly angry. "That's great!"

"And," Kenshin added, "He's much more polite when he's lost his memory. I like him better this way. So whenever he regains it just smack a brick on his head."

Everyone laughed. I joined in. We spent the rest of the time healing, talking, and laughing— although Kenji didn't talk that much at all. In a matter of minutes, the sun sank and the dark, gleaming night unmasked. Since there was not much room inside, me and Kenji decided to sleep outside instead. I wanted to sleep next to the waterfall, where it felt sweet. Kenji began opening his sleeping bag. I detached my sheath and sword and settled it next to me.

"Good night," Kenji said.

"Good night."

I could barely feel sleepy, but knew I needed it for tomorrow. I gazed up at the stars and the moon. In the moon I saw my brother, Eiji. In the stars I connected them mentally to create the face of my father… although I had brushed up my fighting abilities, I didn't know if I wanted to do it. I looked at my Nagatou, lying there alone and safe. As I had noticed, Kenshin had used a reverse-bladed sword, called the _Sakaba_… it didn't hurt me that badly whenever it hit. Since his sakabatou couldn't hurt at all, it couldn't kill. When I questioned him about it, he said he didn't like killing… just like me. But then why did Kenshin even use a sword?

My eyes began to shut, but just then, I heard a noise… something was coming closer and closer. It seemed like the sound of rushing footsteps. I jumped up, out of my sleeping bag, and saw, to my horror, a samurai, armed with a very long katana, almost like Itsuo's Daitou. His screaming woke Kenji up as well.

"What the—?" Kenji shrieked, grabbing his sword. The man seemed to be attacking Kenji, not me. Kenji quickly countered and the experienced samurai doubled back. The samurai was pretty strong.

"Order: annihilate Himura Kenji," the samurai informed.

"What are you talking about?" Kenji cried furiously. "Don't get too close, now. I don't want to hurt you."

But the samurai showed no sign of fear. He swiftly thrust his sword at Kenji, and he dodged. The same thing repeated over and over in a cycle. Finally, I decided to end this hideous battle, and grabbed my Nagatou, attaching the sheath to my waist and rushing between the middle of them.

"Cut it out!" I shouted, and faced the samurai. "Now, what do you w—"

But the samurai attacked me as well. I steadily blocked, and withdrew a distance away. He continued attacking Kenji. What did he want to do with Kenji?.. I quickly became anxious. The samurai was working up a tactic of having Kenji avoid his slashes until he reaches close to the stream, and falls in for good.

"Kenji, you're just a foot away from the stream, get OUT of there!!" I shouted.. but it was going to be too late. The samurai was ready to perform the final blow, and knock Kenji straight in. I sprinted behind him, and for the first time in my memory, committed a murder….

My Nagatou gashed in the samurai's back. He screamed, and blood showered out of the wound as well as out from his mouth. I withdrew the Nagatou and stepped back a few steps, my eyes wide open, watching the samurai suffer and collapse on the ground.

"What's going on here?!"

I looked and saw the rest of the gang coming towards us, as well as Kenshin.

"What the.. who's HE?" Gou asked. "How?"

"I…" I didn't know what to say. My entire body was paralyzed, and I let go of Nagatou… the sword was dripping with blood.

"That samurai came to attack us, and… Shin killed him," Kenji answered.

"Well? What are you waiting for, check his pockets!" Yuki shrieked. I sat down on the ground, observing Kenji checking the samurai's possessions. First, Kenji pulled out a mass number of countless weapons, and then a card.

"What does it say on it?" Itsuo asked.

"Um…," Kenji said calmly, "He's from the government." 

"You mean, one of those samurais that are hired by the government to legally carry sharp weapons?" Iori asked, concerned.

"Yes," Kenji said.

"See? I knew they're just foul bastards!" Natsuo shouted. "They sent people to attack me as well!"

"Now, this must be a misunderstanding," Kenshin said calmly.

"Misunderstanding? What are you talking about?!" Yuki shouted.

Kenji flicked away the card… and once again, a slight smirk formed on his face. Why was he smirking at this crisis? Kenji didn't even mention the fact that the samurai was sent to kill _him_, not _us_. My eyes were wide open, tears now sparkling in them. Itsuo came and patted me on the back.

"It's okay, Shin. You had no choice."

"Dump the body in the stream," Kenshin said. "He's a legal officer. That has really painful consequences."

Kenji nodded and kicked the body into the stream. I began to cry loudly. The rest of the gang made a circle around me like I was some sort of street performer.

"Listen, Shin, it is not your fault," Yuki said comfortably.

"Yes IT IS… There could have been other ways!"

"No," Gou corrected, "You are wrong. When it's a matter between life and death of you or your close ones, you have no other choice."

"Gou's right," Natsuo said in a cool voice, "You must get used to this kind of stuff, Shin. In fact, you didn't care who lived or died back then. The thing is, we _are_ killers… that's why we use weapons."

"Exactly," Iori said, with a thumbs-up. But more tears streamed down my eyes. I was taking in deep breaths, hardly able to believe I had just committed a murder. Iori continued, "We're gonna have to see a lot of blood later on, dude. You should get used to it. There's a long line of murders ahead of us. One murder is like a victory— _even if it is your own_."

"And that's the spirit of the Deathcallers," Itsuo added, "that's how it's going to be for all Hitokiri— always… A manslayer is a manslayer until the day he dies, right Kenshin?"

"Right," Kenshin said, smiling at me, "Even if that manslayer has lost his memory. And that's how it'll be forever. From Alpha to Omega."

"… beginning to the end," Yuri added, grinning.

I put on a grin as well and wiped the tears off my eyes, still taking deep, trembling breaths.


	3. Gamma

**_Gamma_**

**_-----------_**

We left Kenshin's house after setting me on a load of tests to make sure that my training had become firm. And then, we wandered into nowhere — the middle of the wild woods where I had no idea where we were going. I _knew_ we were heading for Osaka, but were we lost or brainless — I had no idea. No one seemed to answer me when I asked them, "_Are we on the right track?_"

But to my relief, I finally saw a hint of opening. With hope, I (and perhaps the rest of the gang) strode out to meet not just an opening, but a human dwelling.

"Osaka at last," Gou said, throwing away his final cigarette. "Damn addiction. This shit sucks, been smoking for two days straight with hardly anything to eat."

Itsuo grinned, "In that case, let's head for some café, shall we?"

There was a pause of agreement. "I'm all for it…"

I myself wanted to have something to eat first. I was so near to starving in the middle of travel that I almost wanted to take a smoke. However, thinking now, the resisting was all worth it. I confirmed this as we finally faced the scent of food floating from the hotel in front of us.

"Huh? What's this?"

I took my eyes off the hotel to look at Yuki, who was staring at a band of cops. But this band wasn't the only one. I turned my head here and there, and spotted not a single corner which wasn't being patrolled by an officer.

"What's going on here?" Natsuo asked.

"Dunno," Kenji said worriedly. "Listen. I think we should get out of here."

"Heck no, let's find out who they're looking for. Maybe it's some Anshi disturbances," Yuki said.

"Well, you guys go on," Kenji said, growing worried, "I'll —just go in and serve myself."

"Hm… all right, but why don't you guys go on?" Yuki suggested. "I'll see what's going on.

We nodded all at once, and slipped inside the warm hotel. After we chose a table to sit, which was placed by the window, Kenji mysteriously disappeared. After about three minutes, he came back with an odd mask covering most of his face.

"You crazy?" Itsuo said angrily.

"You moron, take that off!" Iori said, reaching for the mask. Kenji stepped away from him.

"I like it," he said. "Is it not cool?"

"Sure is."

I turned around and saw Yuki taking a seat. "You look great in that mask, Kenji."

"Yeah, it's about time you feel embarrassed of your unworthy face," Natsuo said. Everyone broke into cackles. I could see a frown forming on Kenji's face, beyond that mask.

"So, what was it with the cops?" I asked after a minute.

"Oh, yes," Yuki said hurriedly, after telling the waiter what to get, "It seems they're searching for a criminal… don't know, some member of Anshi. They're saying he's like a master with a sword. That's a challenge for you right there, you two."

I formed a slight smile, and looked at Kenji. His frown had gone, and he nodded slightly. "I see… did they have any information about that guy?"

"No," Yuki explained, "The only thing they know is that the man is an Anshi, and was powerful enough to take over a harbor all by himself, _and_ kill all the witnesses. Not a single person who knows about him. He then let all his army to sail off the ships."

"But, maybe the people are just too scared to tell?" Natsuo suggested.

"I doubt it," Iori said, "They weren't being forced not to tell, were they?"

"Do they at least know his name?" Itsuo asked, nodding.

"No, I believe not..," Yuki replied. "But they're only walling up Osaka because they believe he's heading here. Some person in Kyoto suggested that he was there just a few days ago, and was willing to give in any information that we needed. And he heard that they're heading for Osaka—he and some of his other members."

A few minutes later, we heard a roar outside. People screaming, and gunshots. I looked out the window and saw that the guard cops were being shot from different angles. It was amazing—the bullets were difficult to track. One by one, the cops fell. More cops came in and looked around to track where the firing was coming from.

"Where are the bullets coming from?" Iori asked.

"It may be difficult for you to tell, but this is not one person firing," Kenji explained, "there is more than one person hiding in those buildings."

"Let's go, then," Gou declared, crashing through the window's glass regardless of the door. We followed him.

"Think of an alternative," Yuki suggested, "we could get shot out there. We don't know where the hell they're coming from."

Nevertheless, Iori had tracked one of the men that were shooting. A few seconds later, I noticed him too, and looked around the buildings and saw more of them. But the man that Iori had noticed was much taller and bigger. Regardless of safety, Iori sprinted towards the building and ran up it as if it was a straight floor. Kenji followed him by hopping up from street light to balconies… I followed the same route as Kenji. In no time, we were being fired at. Kenji was quicker and more skilled than I was, so he avoided and redirected them easily with his sword. I, on the other hand, dodged several of them, but a bullet ripped through the edge of my hand still.

Bearing the pain, I hopped through Kenji's path and caught up on the shooter's floor by making a 14-foot leap risk. I analyzed the man as I sat there choking. Iori had reached the man way before Kenji and I had. Iori was drawing three sets of daggers in his hand expertly.

The man was wearing a belt and a headband with a cross-skull in the middle. He was gigantic, holding an enormous machine gun in his left arm.

"Hehe, another Anshi crap for Shinou to dig," Kenji said with spit drooling from his mouth as if he was hungry for blood.

"It is an honor to meet you, Deathcallers, my name is Taigo. To fight, we must not hold back. I have been waiting for this day."

"You talk too polite," I said to him, holding up my finger at him. "I, Saitou Shin, will defeat you."

"You're bleeding from the hand, kid," Taigo, the Anshi member, informed. "Let me introduce myself once again. I am Taigo. I control Anshi here in Osaka. Let us fight."

I seemed to sense blood several meters around me. I knew that the rest of the gang was clearing out the other shooters. I was delighted to have no more interference. It was three against one. The blood from my hands was endlessly dripping. Despite that, I drew out Nagatou. I was going to be part of this fight no matter what.

"Pretty straight-forward," Iori said, ready to attack with his knives.

"It seems the rest of the Deathcallers are wiping out my men," Taigo said. "This fight may be troublesome. You, there, why are you wearing a mask?"

"Shut up and let's go," Kenji drew Shinou and charged towards him. Unsurprisingly, Taigo pulled the trigger of his machine gun towards Kenji. Instantly, Kenji began spinning around Shinou and the bullets were reflected. Iori shot a knife at Taigo, who replaced himself with his machine gun. The knife easily bounced off the hard metal. Instantly, Iori was on a whole different angle and shot one more at Taigo. Taigo didn't seem to show fright, and vaulted away. His heavy weight crumbled the hard surface below him.

Without any thought of skill, I, too, shot towards Taigo and blew behind him when he shot at me. From there, I hurled Nagatou at his leg, but the pain in my hand slowed me down, letting Taigo's giant foot kick my face. I was being blown right off the building when I hung onto the cliff. Hearing more quick, tense sprints, I climbed back up the cliff and observed as Kenji made incredible combos of Ryu Tsui Sen and Ryu Sho Sen. Taigo was hurt instantly and collided into the stairway-chamber, causing it to break and blocking up the way downstairs the building.

For a while, only smog covered my sight. But I knew that this was not enough to make a big man fall. And indeed, I heard the sound of rocks being blasted away, the dust clearing up, and loud thumping feet. The smog clearing up now revealed a Taigo who was no longer holding a machine gun, but instead a spectacularly large, spiked mace hanging with a metal rod. More like—a flail.

"It seems I must use my style now," Taigo said. "Let us continue, please."

"You will die!" Iori screamed as he grabbed a dagger and launched towards him. I hopped off the cliff and entered the battle area once more. The fight was definitely going to get dangerous with the flail.

I watched Iori launch quick stabs into thin air as Taigo passed by him and raised his flail. "Time to die!" he screamed. He swung the flail at him. In an instant, I was battling the flail down with a single strike of my sword. Taigo made a quick leap back out of fright.

"_What?!_" he shrieked. "That kid… he traveled 15 feet in less than one second? What is this person?"

"He's pretty fast with that flail, so let's be careful, gang," Kenji advised.

Taigo smirked. "Nevertheless, I will fight."

I heard another giant outrage in the city beneath me, beneath the sunset that we were fighting in. It seemed a bomb had exploded. I was in panic. I ran to the cliff and looked down, and saw that Gou and Itsuo were being surrounded by a number of Anshi. All the police force seemed to have finished up. I didn't see Yuki or Natsuo anywhere.

"WATCH OUT, SHIN!!!!"

I looked behind me and in one flash I was holding up Nagatou, drawn against the Taigo's flail once again. The weight of his flail was intense, however, so I was being pushed back a considerable amount. A fury of anger vibrated up my spine.

"I must finish this battle quickly, Taigo, sorry," I said. "Must help friends."

Taigo smiled. "It's good to help friends. Good luck, kid."

I smiled back, but was still full of anger. "_Kuzu Ryuu Sen!_"

Blood shot out from 9 different angles. And then, Taigo was flying behind me, off the building, and down. The impact was incredible! I hadn't even felt this much impact while training with Kenshin. Maybe it was Taigo's large weight, but it felt like that if you start the technique, your body itself gains speed fast enough to make you do the rest of the technique by itself. In other words—it's impossible to hold back the technique once you activate it.

For once, I smirked. Although I had killed a man, although my face was all red now with blood, I smirked. It felt good to kill. But I shivered. _Why do I shiver? Killing is delighting, but why do I shiver?_

…. It seemed that the enthusiasm wasn't over yet, for now a number of expert-looking samurais had instantly knocked Kenji down. I rushed for Kenji, but in another instant, they disappeared. Iori was so full of shock, both with my technique and Kenji being gone, that he seemed half dead. I sheathed Nagatou.

"_Kenji?_ Iori?" I asked.

"Yes?" Iori responded, being the only person there.

"Why did the Anshi take Kenji and not us all together?"

For a while, Iori thought. Then, as he withdrew his knives into the many hidden places in his body, he whispered into the wailing wind, "I do not know, Shin." It was no longer a surprise… but a mission.. that both concerned mystery and battle. Why would they take Kenji? And above all, Kenji was wearing a mask. How could they know that that was definitely Kenji? Maybe my head hurt too bad, or maybe my body was in too much strain from using Kuzu Ryuu Sen, but I collapsed to the ground.

-----------

When I woke up, I did not have to rethink what had happened before. It was already in my mind. I was sleeping on a bed surrounded by the rest of the Deathcallers. It seemed that we had booked an inn.

"Ah, Shin, you're awake!" Natsuo yelled loudly. "It looks like that move was too much for ya.."

"It would be the same if it were you, though, Nat," Iori said, "that move is like a judgment of death. When he decides to use it, he will kill. It's not any normal technique."

I sat up and yawned, looking at the clock. Midnight. Exactly midnight.

"So what is the plan?" I asked.

"Whoah, there, you should be getting rest," Yuki said. "We'll worry about Kenji. Besides, he won't get hurt so easily. He is the son of Himura Kenshin. He is undefeatable. We know Kenji more than anyone else."

"But just to let you know, here is what we are going to do," Natsuo said. "We will kill them."

"Sure we will, Nat, you dumbass," Itsuo said calmly, and looked towards me, "Here is the plan, Shin. Since you and Iori saw the samurai who took Kenji, it is necessary you go follow them to Tokyo. I'll be coming along with you. The rest of us are heading to Yokohama to kick some Anshi ass."

"Wait a minute, how do you know they went to Tokyo or not?" I asked.

"Gou saw them," Iori said. "He was right on catching up to your fight when he both observed your Kuzu Ryuu Sen and then saw the samurai quickly swift by him in amazing speed and kidnap Kenji. Gou was fast enough to track them so he followed, but he failed to catch Kenji and caught one of them. The samurai said they were headed for some sort of prison in Tokyo. We're wondering it's a type of underground hideout for Anshi who capture police forces and trap them there."

"It's odd, though, that even criminals would have their own prisons where they lock up the good guys," Yuki wondered.

I looked at Gou, who was standing at the doorway, not facing us. Gou was one of a kind… he looked very cool with his scythe, and seemed like a loner who didn't talk very much. But then he did talk: "What surprises me, though… is that they were not wearing Anshi belts nor headbands.. The ones with the cross-skull."


End file.
